“I-it is I,” a nasally voice called out from the foliage, “M-Melody Sanders!”
Jennifer cocked an eyebrow (or maybe four of them, she still wasn’t sure how much of her new anatomy really worked,) as another teenage girl rose up from behind the bushes. She was short, freckled, and wore a pair of round glasses that seemed a size or two too big for her, as well as a t-shirt with a set of Japanese characters on it. Her expression was unreadable. She looked vaguely familiar to Jennifer, probably another student from her school, but she couldn’t remember the name. Not that Jennifer would normally remember a loser like her; Melody looked like the same kind of action-figure collecting, anime-worshipping geek that Kyle had been .
“Did you follow me all the way out here to laugh at me,” Jennifer hissed.
“N-no!” Melody hastily shook her head. The way her body moved, it seemed like she was torn between caution and intrigue, cautiously staying out of arm’s reach of Jennifer, while keeping her eyes locked on the spider-woman, not the way a prey animal watches its predator, but the way an artist might take in a painting. “If anything it seems you came to me! I had merely hoped to find a quiet place, away from the noise and crowds that come to see young men chase after a ball! I had no intention of disturbing the grieving of such a fascinating specimen!”
The girl paused. “...But seeing as we have already interrupted you… Perhaps we could trouble you as to who you are, where you came from, and why you’re wearing one of Glendale High’s cheerleader uniforms?”
Jennifer huffed, crossing one set of arms. She didn’t like the idea of opening herself to some nerd, but Melody, at least, didn’t seem to be completely freaked out. Jennifer wasn’t sure she could show her face to anyone else like this.
“I’m Jennifer Smith, a cheerleader from Glendale High.”
Melody went wide-eyed. “The cheerleader? Th-that Jennifer Smith? How’d you end up like this?”
“And...It was Kyle… Kyle Perkins...” Jennifer said
“Wait, Kyle?” Melody said, stepping forward. “You know Kyle?”
“Yeah, I know him,” Jennifer groaned. “He used Tran-” she stopped,feeling hesitant to actually say the curse’s name while she had the power to cast it. “The town curse. He used the town curse on me.”
“Transform or Dare?”
“Yes.
Melody went wide-eyed. “It’s real?” She stopped herself. “Well, of course it’s real, there is simply no other explanation for your current state. But, if Kyle had the curse, why would he use it on you?” To Jennifer’s surprise, the girl sounded strangely disappointed.”
“Revenge, for me and some of the other cheerleaders pantsing him.” Jennifer groaned.
“He… He just... WASTED it on petty revenge?” Melody’s fists clenched. “How could he do that?”
“I know, right?” Jennifer huffed
“There was so much potential to study the phenomena, so many chances to explore new possibilities, so many dreams we could fulfill!”
Jennifer blinked. “What are you talking about?”
“Kyle and I, and several of our other friends, had talked about the curse from time to time, exchanging what rumors we’d heard about it, and fantasizing about how to scientifically analyze it if any of us were to get it… among other things.” She blushed and glanced away as she said the last part.
“THAT’S what’s bothering you about this?”
“Well, yes, that, and the ethical concerns of involving your lack of consent.” Melody’s eyes suddenly brightened again. “But I suppose you do have a point!”
“Uh, what point is that?”
“That your being here provides a perfect opportunity to study the curse and its effects!” She grinned, moving closer to Jennifer. “Why, just your being here now already proves that not only is the curse real, but that it can transform people into creatures that should not possibly exist without harm to transform-ee!”
“What?”
“You should be collapsing under your own weight right now!” There was an odd giddiness to her words.
“Are you calling me FAT?” Jennifer hissed visciously, raising her claws.
“No, no, I’m talking about the Square-Cube laws!” Melody said, her excitement unphased. “Spiders magnified to human size couldn’t possibly support their own weight. And yet, you do, anyway!”
“I… Guess?” Jennifer lowered her guard.
“And further, this also suggests, but does not confirm, that the curse must have some way of hiding itself from those unaffected by it!”
Jennifer was starting to get annoyed at Melody’s motor mouth, just wanting the girl to shut up and let her think of how to start undoing this, but Melody barely seemed to be paying attention.
“You see,” Melody went on, “if the curse was capable of making the physically impossible real, and capable of survival for prolonged periods, then we should expect to see undeniable evidence of its existence, given it has been around for generations. And yet, it is only ever thought of as a rumor by the majority of the population of Glendale. Why?”
She didn’t wait for an answer. “I hypothesize that the curse has some sort of ‘self-defense’ to prolong its existence and avoid being exploited! Perhaps it muddles the minds of the unaffected, making them see the afflicted as typical humans, or something not worth commenting on, after the initial embarrassment of the victim is over! Alternatively, it could cause those unaffected to quickly forget any supernatural phenomena they witness, or dismiss it as a dream or their eyes playing tricks on them. A third possibility, statistically unlikely when taking into account that this game has gone on for multiple generations, is that victims have largely taken dares over transformations, and that the few transformations have largely been into things that would not raise a suspicious eye, and those that had, were quickly hidden!”
Jennifer groaned. “Yeah, this is REALLY interesting and all, but-”
“Oh isn’t it?” Melody was beaming. “Going with the first two theories and their assumption that the curse has a ‘self-defense mechanism,’ l would also hypothesize that this defense would have similar implications for certain transformations or dares. If the victim were to die before they could spread the curse, then surely, it could not have lasted this long; statistically, some vindictive person would have tried to use a dare to force a suicide, or transform someone into something on the verge of death, like a literal fish out of water! This would mean that either the next victim would be randomly picked from the town’s population, or, that those dares and transformations would not be granted by the curse! It could also mean that those turned into animals, plants, or inanimate objects, (as some rumors speak of,) would need to maintain some ability to communicate, at least long enough to continue spreading the curse. Of course, actually testing such things without running into ethical issues could be-”
“UUHG!” Jennifer groaned as loudly as she could. “MELODY!”
The girl finally went quiet. “Yes?”
“If you want to experiment so badly, why don’t YOU try it?” Jennifer growled. “Transform? Or Dare?”
Seemingly still too lost in her theories to pick up on the obvious signs of anger in Jennifer, Melody instantly smiled wide, and simply said “transform!”
“Fine then, you wanna see how it works with objects, how about you turn into a life-size anime figure, or something, and we see what happens!”
Melody’s eyes widened. “W-wait! Weren’t you listening, there are serious ethical issues with experiments of that nature!”
But neither Jennifer, nor the curse, were about to listen to her protests.